Codename: Kids Next Door

[Michael Hopcroft]

I don't know why I like the idea of Codename: Kids Next Door as a campaign setting. Maybe it;s the uidea of these ultra-trained kids with their two-by-four tehcnology waging a secret war against everything adult appeals to the little kid in me that never got a chance to get out (even during my childhood), or maybe it's the easy (if sometimes tried) cameraderie among the heroes. Or maybe it's"The Wonderful Children from Down the Lane", a group of evil Stepford-children who always speak in unison and exude menace whpo become the Kids' chief and most dangerous nemesis (and who weave plots so twisted that a spider would collapse in shock).

 

The whole thing is so subversive that it cries out for RPG treatment in the vein of a comedy game in which some serious things happen 9although no character has ever died in thei\ series, it is strongly implied that death is quite possible and that the kids are literally risking their necks). There is also something vaguely sinister about the fact that a KND agent is automatically "decommissioned" in his or her 13th birthday -- not only is it unknown what the decommissioning process is like, but it's quite distribuging to realize the metnor who taught you how to use two-by-four technology is eventually going to become an Adult himself, and may very well turn against you. (#5's older sister, who taught her alol her fighting skills, is one of the Kids' deadliest enemies now that she's a teenager).

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

Yeah, she even uses that Battle Ready Armor (BRA) technology against them.

[Evil Steve]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

Oh God! That's brilliant! This would be a fabulous campaign. I think I'll look into it. If anyone starts anything for this, let me know.

[nexus]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

Cool, I'm glad I'm not the only one that saw something a bit sinister in that show.

 

I don't know if I would use Hero for it though. Perhaps a modifed version of Little Fears?

[Peregrine]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

Since you put it that way... I concur completely.

 

Good catch!

[SuperPheemy]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

I was thinking about putting something like this together for next years' convention season. And specifically invite the conventions' younger attendees to play in the game. I just have to shift gears from my current "use all HERO rules I can remember" to "Keep it simple, stupid" so as to present the system in a beginner-friendly light.

[John Desmarais]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

I was thinking about putting something like this together for next years' convention season. And specifically invite the conventions' younger attendees to play in the game. I just have to shift gears from my current "use all HERO rules I can remember" to "Keep it simple' date=' stupid" so as to present the system in a beginner-friendly light.[/quote']

 

I have gotten into the habit recently of, whenever putting together a game for younger gamers, using only those rules that appear in Sidekick. Work well.

 

John D.

 

p.s.

I'm glad I'm not only one who watches that show and thinks "I could do this as a Hero game..."

[AlHazred]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

Or maybe it's"The Wonderful Children from Down the Lane"' date=' a group of evil Stepford-children who always speak in unison and exude menace whpo become the Kids' chief and most dangerous nemesis (and who weave plots so twisted that a spider would collapse in shock).[/quote']

Ah, the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. And what the heck is their "father" anyway? Some classic elements in that show, drawn together in extremely intelligent ways. Anybody care to write up the headquarters in Base terms?

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

Ah' date=' the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. And what the heck is their "father" anyway? Some classic elements in that show, drawn together in extremely intelligent ways. Anybody care to write up the headquarters in Base terms? [/quote']

I'm not sure I would. it's a whopping great treehouse with impressive defenses and an excellent computer.

 

The characters would be really interesting to write up. For example, #4's bizarre excuses for wanting to protect #3 at all costs (and her obliviousness to it all). "It's not like that! She just owes me a quarter!" "What quarter? I don't owe you a quarter!"" "Well, let's just pretend you do so I don't look completely ridiculous. I promsie I'll give it back later...."

 

Why is it that Nickelodeon has the really popular kid's shows but Cartoon network has the really intelligent ones. Why is "Spongebob Squarepants" part of the natuional lexicon while "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" gets no attention at all? (Mandy is one incredibly evil kid when you come to think of it.)

[BlackSword]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

True, but how many kids would get the God-Emporer of Dune reference in one of the eps?

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

The newest episode, "operation: e.n.d.", prvovides some more details about the organization when Number 1 and his friends are scheduled for premature decomissioning. This process wipes from the subject's memory all knowledge of their involvement with the Kids Next Doior, to the piont that the rest of the team 9who went through it) believe #1 (who hasn;t) is utterly insane even though they're on a huge treehouse on the moon at the time!

 

It turns out to be a massive betrayal -- the equivalent of M defecting to SPECTRE. A great, exciting, and thoroughly wicked episode.

[Michael Hopcroft]

Re: Codename: Kids Next Door

 

I've been thinking more about actually putting together the team for convention adventures. I don't know how I;d do it restricting myself to Sidekick 9as SuperPheemy seems to suggest) but I have a few ideas of what the characters should look like:

 

#1: High INT, VERY high PRE, Leadership skills up the wazoo, Tactics at at least 14-. Good but not spectacular comnat skills.

 

#2: The tech geius par excellence. Very high INT, the biggest Gadget Pool on the team (although all five should have a gadegt Pool), frequently used for one of the many vehicles he pilots for the team. Nobody is better with computers or inventing than #2 -- an adult with his skills would be a multi-millionaire from patent royalties alone. The ultimate master of two-by-four technology.

 

#3: High INT, high COM (she's REALLY cute). Irrationally attracted to anything cute and plushie. She is the pilot of Hippity-Hop, a giant robot that looks and in some ways acts like a bunny rabb0t -- the kind that hunts down, kills and eats bears. She would have put a lot of hger own points into Hippity-Hop and as a result Hippity=Hop always returns after being destroyed. Smart but incredibly naive.

 

#4: The male half of the pair of combat specialists. High STR, High DEX, at least two Combat Skill levels, and a hard-style martial art (possibly Karate) he'd have Weapons Element: Imrpovised Weapons for his marital arts. Has Social Limitation: In love with #3 but Refuses to Admit It.

 

#5: The female combat specialist on the team. Highest DEX on the team. Multiple Combat Skill Levels; a good selection of soft-styler martial arts manuvers such as Aikido with a few hard=style manuevrs thrown in for good measure. Her big sisterm a former KND operative who taught her all her best moves, is one of the KND's deadliest enemies.

 

Othger characters worth modeling are The Delightful Children from Dwon the lane, who are more like a gestalt than indivual characters; #86, the girl in cahrge of decomissioning retiring agents, and #273, "the Greatest KND Operative Ever", who betrays the team and the organization when his 13th birthday is revealed.